Armenian National Committee of America
1711 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036
Tel: (202) 775-1918
Fax: (202) 775-5648
E-mail: [email protected]
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PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 20, 2006
Contact: Elizabeth S. Chouldjian
Tel: (202) 775-1918
OVER 200 MEMBERS OF CONGRESS URGE PRESIDENT TO
PROPERLY CHARACTERIZE THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
— Thirty U.S. Senators Join 178 Representatives
in Sending Strong Message to White House
WASHINGTON, DC – Two hundred and eight U.S. legislators today
called on President Bush to reaffirm the U.S. record on the
Armenian Genocide, reported the Armenian National Committee of
America (ANCA).
In separate letters, 178 Representatives and 30 Senators
specifically asked the President to properly characterize the
atrocities as “genocide,” in his annual April 24th remarks. In
February of 2000, during Michigan’s hotly contested Republican
primary, then Governor Bush promised to properly recognize the
Armenian Genocide if elected president. Since taking office in
2001, the President has retreated from this pledge, issuing a
succession of April 24th statements that use evasive and
euphemistic terminology to diminish the full historical, moral, and
contemporary legal implications of Ottoman Turkey’s genocide
against the Armenian nation.
The House letter, organized by Congressional Armenian Caucus Co-
Chairmen Frank Pallone (D-NJ) and Joe Knollenberg (R-MI), stressed
that, “the United States must never allow crimes against humanity
to pass without remembrance and condemnation. As U.S. efforts to
aid victims of genocide continue, it is imperative that we pay
tribute to the memory of others who have suffered and never forget
the past. By commemorating the Armenian Genocide, we renew our
commitment to prevent future atrocities and therefore negate the
dictum that history is condemned to repeat itself.”
The Senate letter, led by Senators John Ensign (R-NV) and Richard
Durbin (D-IL), noted that, “The memory of the Armenian Genocide
underscores our responsibility to speak forcefully about our
respect for fundamental human rights and opposition to mass
slaughters. It is in the best interests of our nation and the
entire global community to remember the past and learn from these
crimes against humanity to ensure that they are never repeated. We
respectfully request that you refer to the mass slaughter of
Armenians as genocide in your commemorative statement.”
“The Armenian Genocide is incontrovertible, of which the
U.S. Archives is replete with thousands of pages documenting this
horrific crime,” said Co-Chairmen Joe Knollenberg and Frank
Pallone. “The President has employed a textbook definition of
genocide to describe the events that occurred from 1915-1923, but a
full and irrevocable U.S. affirmation of the Armenian Genocide is
necessary to prevent such crimes from happening in the future.”
“We are very gratified by the strong, bipartisan message from
Congress encouraging the President to properly recognize the
Armenian Genocide in his April 24th remarks,” said Aram Hamparian,
Executive Director of the ANCA. “We join with our Congressional
friends – most notably Senators John Ensign and Dick Durbin and
Armenian Caucus Co-Chairs Frank Pallone and Joe Knollenberg – in
calling for moral clarity in our nation’s response to genocide.”
Members of Congress joining Reps. Pallone and Knollenberg in co-
signing the letter included: Neil Abercrombie (D-HI), Gary
Ackerman (D-NY), Tom Allen (D-ME), Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Joe Baca
(D-CA), Brian Baird (D-WA), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Gresham Barrett
(R-SC), Charles Bass (R-NH), Melissa Bean (D-IL), Bob Beauprez (R-
CO), Xavier Becerra (D-CA), Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Howard Berman
(D-CA), Michael Bilirakis (R-FL), Tim Bishop (D-NY), Earl
Blumenauer (D-OR), Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), Mary Bono (R-CA), Jeb
Bradley (R-NH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Dave Camp
(R-MI), Lois Capps (D-CA), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Benjamin Cardin
(D-MD), Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), William Clay (D-MO), Emanuel Cleaver
(D-MO), John Conyers (D-MI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Jerry Costello (D-
IL), Joseph Crowley (D-NY), Danny Davis (D-IL), Susan Davis (D-CA),
Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Diana DeGette (D-CO), William Delahunt (D-
MA), Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), Charles Dent (R-PA), Lincoln Diaz-Balart
(R-FL), John Dingell (D-MI), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), John Doolittle
(R-CA), Mike Doyle (D-PA), David Dreier (R-CA), Vernon Ehlers (R-
MI), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Anna Eshoo (D-CA), Lane Evans (D-IL),
Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Mike Ferguson (R-NJ), Bob Filner (D-CA), Mike
Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Mark Foley (R-FL), Vito Fossella (R-NY), Barney
Frank (D-MA), Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ), Scott Garrett (R-NJ),
Jim Gibbons (R-NV), Charlie Gonzalez (D-TX), Al Green (D-TX), Gene
Green (D-TX), Mark Green (R-WI), Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), Luis
Gutierrez (D-IL), Stephanie Herseth (D-SD), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY),
Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), Rush Holt (D-NJ), Michael Honda (D-CA),
Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Steve Israel (D-NY), Darrell Issa (R-CA), Jesse
Jackson (D-IL), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), Nancy Johnson (R-CT),
Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Sue Kelly (R-NY), Mark Kennedy (R-MN), Patrick
Kennedy (D-RI), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Dennis
Kucinich (D-OH), John R. Randy, Jr. Kuhl (R-NY), James Langevin (D-
RI), John Larson (D-CT), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Sander Levin (D-MI),
John Lewis (D-GA), Daniel Lipinski (D-IL), Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ),
Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Nita Lowey (D-NY), Dan Lungren (R-CA), Stephen
Lynch (D-MA), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Edward Markey (D-MA), Doris
Matsui (D-CA), Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY), Betty McCollum (D-MN),
Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI), Jim McDermott (D-WA), James McGovern (D-
MA), John McHugh (R-NY), Buck McKeon (R-CA), Cynthia McKinney (D-
GA), Cathy McMorris (R-WA), Michael McNulty (D-NY), Martin Meehan
(D-MA), Michael Michaud (D-ME), Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA),
Candice Miller (R-MI), Gwen Moore (D-WI), James Moran (D-VA), Jerry
Moran (R-KS), Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), Grace Napolitano (D-CA),
Richard Neal (D-MA), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Devin Nunes (R-
CA), John Olver (D-MA), C. L. Butch Otter (R-ID), William Pascrell
(D-NJ), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Collin Peterson
(D-MN), Richard Pombo (R-CA), Jon Porter (R-NV), George Radanovich
(R-CA), Charles Rangel (D-NY), Mike Rogers (R-MI), Mike Ross (D-
AR), Steven Rothman (D-NJ), Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Edward
Royce (R-CA), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Paul Ryan (R-WI), John Salazar (D-
CO), Linda Sanchez (D-CA), Loretta Sanchez (D-CA), Bernard Sanders
I VT), H. James Saxton (R-NJ), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Adam
Schiff (D-CA), Allyson Schwartz (D-PA), Joe Schwarz (R-MI), David
Scott (D-GA), E. Clay Shaw (R-FL), Christopher Shays (R-CT), Brad
Sherman (D-CA), John Shimkus (R-IL), Rob Simmons (R-CT),
Christopher Smith (R-NJ), Hilda Solis (D-CA), Mark Souder (R-IN),
Pete Stark (D-CA), Ted Strickland (D-OH), John Sweeney (R-NY),
Ellen Tauscher (D-CA), Mike Thompson (D-CA), John Tierney (D-MA),
Edolphus Towns (D-NY), Mark Udall (D-CO), Christopher Van Hollen
(D-MD), Peter Visclosky (D-IN), Maxine Waters (D-CA), Diane Watson
(D-CA), Henry Waxman (D-CA), Anthony Weiner (D-NY), Curt Weldon (R-
PA), Dave Weldon (R-FL), Gerald Weller (R-IL), Joe Wilson (R-SC),
Frank Wolf (R-VA), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA).
Senators cosigning the letter to President Bush along with Senators
Ensign and Durbin were: Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Wayne Allard (R-CO),
George Allen (R-VA), Barbara Boxer (D-CA) , Lincoln Chafee (R-RI),
Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Norm Coleman (R-MN), Susan Collins (R-ME),
Elizabeth Dole (R-NC), Russ Feingold (D-WI), Dianne Feinstein (D-
CA), Tim Johnson (D-SD), Edward Kennedy (D-MA), John Kerry (D-MA),
Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Carl Levin (D-MI), Joseph Lieberman (D-
CT), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Barak Obama (D-IL), Jack Reed (D-RI),
Harry Reid (D-NV), Ken Salazar (D-CO), Rick Santorum (R-PA), Paul
Sarbanes (D-MD), Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Debbie
Stabenow (D-MI), and John Sununu (R-NH).
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